The Wonder Book of Knowledge E-Book

Henry Chase Hill

• Herausgeber: Seltzer Books
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 820

Beschreibung

A treasure trove of practical information for all ages, first published in 1921. "The marvels of modern industry and invention, the interesting stories of common things, the mysterious processes of nature simply explained."

Leseprobe

HOW COLOR PRINTING IS DONE

THE WONDER BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE

THE MARVELS OF MODERN INDUSTRY AND INVENTION THE INTERESTING STORIES OF COMMON THINGS THE MYSTERIOUS PROCESSES OF NATURE SIMPLY EXPLAINED

COMPILED AND EDITED BY HENRY CHASE HILL

WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF EXPERTS REPRESENTING EACH INDUSTRY

Illustrated with 780 Photographs and Drawings

________________

Published by Seltzer Books. seltzerbooks.com

established in 1974, as B&R Samizdat Express

offering over 14,000 books

feedback welcome: [email protected]

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PHILADELPHIA, THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1921 By L. T. MYERS, Copyright, 1917-19

Preface

THE STORY OF THE SUBMARINE

THE STORY OF THE PANAMA CANAL

What is a Geyser?

What Kind of Dogs are Prairie-Dogs?

What is Spontaneous Combustion?

THE STORY IN THE TALKING MACHINE

What are Petrified Forests?

What Animals are the Best Architects?

THE STORY OF THE MOTORCYCLE

How is the Weather Man Able to Predict Tomorrow’s Weather?

How does a Siren Fog Horn Blow?

THE STORY IN A WATCH

How does a Monorail Gyroscope Railway Operate?

Why are Finger-prints used for Identification?

THE STORY IN A RIFLE

How does an Artesian Well Keep up its Supply of Water?

Where do Dates come from?

THE STORY OF RUBBER

How did the Expression “Before you can say Jack Robinson” Originate?

What is an Aerial Railway Like?

Why are they called Newspapers?

How did the Cooking of Food Originate?

How Far away is the Sky-Line?

THE STORY OF ROPE

How did the Expression “A-1” Originate?

How has Man Helped Nature give us Apples?

What kind of a Crab Climbs Trees?

How are Files Made?

THE STORY OF SELF-LOADING PISTOLS

How does the Poisonous Tarantula Live?

How do the Indians Live Now?

How does the Beach get its Sand?

How did Nodding the Head Up and Down Come to Mean “Yes”?

Why do We Call a Man “a Benedict” When He Marries?

THE STORY IN FIRECRACKERS AND SKY-ROCKETS

What makes a Chimney Smoke?

What are Dry Docks Like?

Why does a Lightning Bug Light Her Light?

THE STORY IN THE MAKING OF A PICTURE

How Deep is the Deepest Part of the Ocean?

Why do We say “Get the Sack”?

Why do We call them X-Rays?

How did the Term “Yankee” Originate?

Why do We say “Kick the Bucket”?

When does a Tortoise move Quickly?

THE STORY IN A NEWSPAPER

What do We Mean by the “Flying Dutchman”?

Why does a Duck’s Back Shed Water?

Why doesn’t the Sky ever Fall Down?

How are Sand-Dunes Formed?

What do We Mean by an Eclipse?

What are Dreams?

What makes Our Teeth Chatter?

THE STORY IN A HONEY COMB

Where do Figs Come from?

What are Fighting Fish?

How is the Exact Color of the Sky Determined?

What is a Divining Rod?

THE STORY OF ELECTRICITY IN THE HOME

Why is there Always a Soft Spot in a Cocoanut Shell?

How does a Gasoline Motor Run an Electric Street Car?

How do Carrier Pigeons Carry Messages?

What Family has Over 9,000,000 Members?

THE STORY IN THE TELEPHONE

Why do they Call Them “Fiddler-Crabs”?

How Far can a Powerful Searchlight Send its Rays?

What Started the Habit of Touching Glasses Before Drinking?

Why are Windows Broken by Explosions?

What does the Expression “Showing the White Feather” come from?

THE STORY IN ELEVATORS AND ESCALATORS

What Happens when Animals Hibernate?

How do Peanuts get in the Ground?

How did Your State get its Name?

THE STORY OF COAL MINING

How can We Hear through the Walls of a Room?

What is a Diesel Engine Like?

What does the Sheep-grower get for the Wool in a Suit of Clothes?

THE STORY IN A SILVER TEASPOON

How do Chimes Strike the Hour?

How is Electricity Brought into a House?

What was the Origin of Masonic Signs?

What is a Dictograph?

STORY OF THE WIRELESS TELEGRAPH

What is Forestry Work?

How did the Fashion of Wearing Cravats Commence?

How does the Gas Meter Measure Your Gas?

What is a Game Preserve?

THE STORY OF THE BUILDING OF A SILO

THE STORY OF THE ADVANCE OF ELECTRICITY

How is Die-Sinking Done?

THE STORY IN THE MAKING OF A MAGAZINE

How Did the Ringing of Curfew Originate?

THE STORY OF AMERICA’S FIRST HORSELESS CARRIAGE

THE STORY IN A SAUSAGE

Why do We call them “Dog Days?”

How is a Five Dollar Gold Piece Made?

How does a Bird Fly?

THE STORY OF THE BIG REDWOOD TREES

How did the Expression “Forlorn Hope” Originate?

Why is “Wall Street” known Around the World?

What makes a Stick Seem To Bend in Water?

What causes a Lump in a Person’s Throat?

How are We Able to Hear through Speaking Tubes?

Why do We Always Shake Hands with our Right Hand?

THE STORY IN A BILLIARD TABLE

What is the Hottest Place in the United States?

What are White Blackberries Like?

Why do They Have a Dog-Watch on Shipboard?

How Much Gold has a 14-Carat Ring?

What is an Electro Magnet?

THE STORY IN A PIN

How are Glaciers Formed?

How Large are Molecules?

PICTORIAL STORY OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY

THE STORY IN A BOX OF CALIFORNIA ORANGES

What Kind of Steel Knives do not Stain or Rust?

Why is it Necessary to Keep Quiet when Fishing?

First Apartment Houses in this Country

Why do we Call 32° above Zero Freezing?

How is Fresco Painting Done?

THE STORY OF A PIECE OF CHEWING GUM

Where did the Ferris Wheel get its Name?

What is Done to Keep Railroad Rails from Breaking?

How does a “Master Clock” Control others by Electricity?

THE STORY OF THE CALCULATING MACHINE

Where does Ermine Come from?

What is the Principle of “Foreign Exchange?”

What do We Mean by “The Old Moon in the New Moon’s Arms”?

THE STORY IN A BOWLING ALLEY

How are Artificial Precious Stones Made?

What is a Mexican Bull-Fight Like?

What is the Difference between “Alternating” and “Direct” Current?

What was the “Court of Love”?

THE STORY OF THE ADDRESSOGRAPH

What is Dry Farming?

What is a Drying Machine Like?

How does the New York Stock Exchange Operate?

How did the term “Cowboys” Originate?

THE STORY IN A CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHER

How is Gold Leaf Made?

What is the Natural Color of Goldfish?

When was “Liquid Fire” first used in Warfare?

How did the Greyhound get his Name?

Why is It Called “Battery Park”?

How do we Know that the Earth is Round?

What were “Ducking Stools?”

THE STORY IN PHOTO-ENGRAVING

Where are Milk-Pails Filled from Trees?

How did the Wearing of a Crown Originate?

Why do Lobsters change Color?

How do Fishes Swim?

Where do Pearls Come from?

What is Cork?

THE STORY IN A GIANT CANNON

What is a Deep-Sea Diver’s Dress Like?

Why do We Smile when We are Pleased?

Why do Some of Us have Freckles?

PICTORIAL STORY OF THE STEEL INDUSTRY

What do We Mean by “Deviation of the Compass?”

THE STORY IN THE MAKING OF A PAIR OF SHOES

What is Standard Gold?

What are Cyclones?

What Metals can be Drawn into Wire Best?

How are Cocoanuts Used to Help our Warships?

How did the Dollar Sign Originate?

PICTORIAL STORY OF FIRE APPARATUS

STORY OF THE TAKING OF FOOD FROM THE AIR

What is a Drawbridge Like Today?

THE STORY OF A DEEP-SEA MONSTER

What is an Armored Railway Car Like?

What is an Electric Eel?

THE STORY OF SALT

Why do We Call it “Denatured Alcohol”?

What is the Difference between a Cruiser and a Battleship?

THE STORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE MOTOR TRUCK

What is a Diving Bell?

How are Harbors Dredged Out?

How is a Razor Blade Made?

THE STORY OF THE TUNNELS UNDER THE HUDSON RIVER

What Causes Floating Islands?

PICTORIAL STORY OF THE AIRSHIP

THE STORY OF AN AUTOMOBILE FACTORY

How do Big Buildings get their Granite?

RAILROAD SCENES FROM SHOP AND ROAD

THE STORY OF AN UP-TO-DATE FARM

What Causes an Echo?

THE STORY OF THE MOTION-PICTURE PROJECTING MACHINE

THE STORY OF LEATHER

What is a “Glass Snake?”

THE STORY IN DIAMOND-CUTTING

Why do We get Hungry?

THE STORY IN THE MODERN LIFTING MAGNET

Why is the Thistle the Emblem of Scotland?

How are Animals Identified on Cattle Ranges?

How is Glue Made?

Why does a Hot Dish Crack if we put Ice Cream in It?

FOOTNOTES

ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF TITLES AND SUBJECTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Preface

This book is presented to those, both young and old, who wish to have a non-technical account of the history, evolution and production of some of the every-day wonders of the modern industrial age; coupled with occasional glimpses of the wonderful object-lessons afforded by nature in her constructive activities in the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms; and simple, understandable answers to the myriad puzzling questions arising daily in the minds of those for whom the fascination of the “Why” and “How” is always engrossing.

Although not intended primarily as a child’s book, the interest-compelling pictures and clear, illuminating answers to the constant avalanche of questions suggested by the growing mind, unite in making far happier children in the home and brighter children at school. Parents and teachers will also recognize the opportunity to watch for subjects by which the child’s interest appears to be more than ordinarily attracted, and, in so doing, will be enabled to guide the newly-formed tendencies into the proper channels. With the greatest thinkers of the age advocating vocational training, and leading educators everywhere pointing out that the foundation of a practical education for life must be laid in the home, thoughtful parents will not overlook the fact that a book which both entertains and instructs is of supreme importance in the equipment of their children.

In the preparation of this book its function has been considered as that of gathering up some of the multitudinous bits of information of interest, both to the inquiring child and the older reader, and putting them in shape to be digested by the ordinary searcher after knowledge. The book is intended, not for a few technical specialists, but for the larger number of men, women and children who are not interested in exhaustive treatises, but who are seeking to gain some fair idea about the numberless every-day subjects that arise in ordinary conversation, or that they meet with in reading and about which they desire some definite and satisfactory information.

Most of us realize that we live in a world of wonders and we recognize progress in industries with which we come in personal contact, but the daily routine of our lives is ordinarily so restricted by circumstances that many of us fail to follow works which do not come within our own experience or see beyond the horizon of our own specific paths.

The workman who tends the vulcanizer in the rubber factory has come to take his work as a matter of course; the man who assembles a watch, or a camera, is not apt to appreciate the fact that there have been marvelous developments in his line of manufacturing; the operator of a shoe machine, or of an elevator, does not see anything startling or absorbing in the work—and so we find it almost throughout the entire list of industries.

The tendency of the seemingly almost imperceptible movement marking onward development in the work that is familiar is to dull the mind toward opportunities for improvement in the accustomed task. With the exception of the man who is at times impressed with the remarkable advances made in some strikingly spectacular industry, because such knowledge comes to him suddenly, the average workman is often too much inclined to regard himself as a machine, and performs his duties more or less automatically, without attempting to exercise imagination or those powers of adaptation upon which all progress has been builded.

A single volume is of necessity too limited a space for anything approximating a complete record of the vast progress which has been made in American Industry. Consequently it has only been possible to select the more characteristic features of the twentieth century and point out the strides by which some of the prominent industries have advanced to their present proportions. If the hitherto undisputed maxim that “the more the individual knows the more he is worth to himself and his associates” still prevails, the chronicling of the developments in some fields should stimulate thought and experiment toward the adaptation of similar methods in others. It is to that end that authorities in each of the industries presented have co-operated in the compilation of this interesting and instructive volume.

The Editor.

The Story of the Submarine[1]

Origin of Submarine Navigation.

The history of invention has no chapter more interesting than that of sailing under the ocean’s waves. The navigation of the air approaches it in character, but does not present the vital problems of undersea travel. Both these new fields of navigation have been notably developed within recent years, largely as a result of the great European war. It is the story of sailing in the depths beneath the ocean’s surface with which we here propose to deal. The problem was settled easily enough for his purpose by Jules Verne, in his “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” But that was pure fiction without scientific value. It is with fact, not fiction, that we are here concerned.

A Submarine About to Submerge

The story takes us back three hundred years, to the reign of James I, of England, when a crude submarine boat was built, to be moved by oars, but one of no value other than as a curiosity. At a later date a man named Day built a similar boat, wagering that he would go down one hundred yards and remain there twenty-four hours. So far as is known, he still remains there, winning the wager which he has not come up to claim.

Other such boats were constructed at intervals, but the first undersea boat of any historical importance was the “American Turtle,” built by a Yankee named David Bushnell during the time that the British held New York in the Revolutionary War. He sought to blow up the British frigate “Eagle” with the aid of a torpedo and nearly succeeded in doing so, seriously scaring the British shippers by the explosion of his torpedo.

The next to become active in this line of discovery was Robert Fulton, the inventor of the first practical steamboat. He, like Bushnell, was an American, but his early experiments were in France, where Napoleon patronized him. With his boat, the “Nautilus,” he made numerous descents, going down twenty-five feet in the harbor of Brest and remaining there an hour. He said that he could build a submarine that could swim under the water and destroy any war vessel afloat. But the French Admiralty refused to sustain him, one old admiral saying, “Thank God, France still fights her battles on the surface, not beneath it.”

Fulton finally went to England and there built a boat with which he attached a torpedo to a condemned brig, set aside for that purpose. The brig was blown up in the presence of an immense throng, and Fulton finally sold his invention to the British government for $75,000. Nothing further came of it.

The submarine next came into practical view during the American Civil War, when the Confederate government built several such vessels, known usually as “Davids” from their inventor. Now, for the first time, did such a craft demonstrate its powers. On the night of February 17, 1864, one of the “Davids,” the “Hunley,” blew up the steamship “Housatonic” in Charleston harbor. The wave caused by the explosion swamped the submarine and it and its crew found a watery grave.

Other submarines were built and experimented with, not only in the United States but in European countries. One of the later inventors was an Irish-American named John P. Holland, who, in 1876, built a submarine called the “Fenian Ram.” The “Ram” collapsed with the collapse of the Fenian movement. Other boats were built and tried, but the successful period of the submarine was deferred until after 1893, when the United States Congress appropriated $200,000 to encourage such an enterprise and invited inventors to submit designs. This, and a similar movement in France, formed the first official recognition of the value of vessels of this class.

The prize offered by Congress brought out three designs, one by Mr. Holland, the “Ram” inventor, one by George C. Barker, and a third by Simon Lake. The names of Holland and Lake have since been closely associated with the history of the submarine. Mr. Holland’s device secured approval and in 1894 he received a contract to build a submarine vessel. This, named the “Plunger,” was begun in 1895, but was finally abandoned and a vessel of different type, the “Holland,” was built in its place. It was accepted by the government in 1900. A number of others similar to the “Holland” were subsequently built.

The American Types.

The type of these vessels was what became known as the “diving.” They were controlled by a rudder placed at the stern of the vessel and acting in both a horizontal and a vertical direction, the force of the screw propeller driving the boat forward in the direction desired. In 1904 the navy of the United States possessed eight Holland boats and there were also a number of them in the British navy.

Mr. Lake’s design, offered in 1893 but not accepted, had as its novel feature a plan by which a door could be opened in the bottom of the ship and the crew leave and enter it in diving suits, the water being kept out by the force of compressed air. To maintain the vessel on an even keel he introduced four vanes, called “hydroplanes,” for regulating the depth of descent. By aid of these and the horizontal rudder it was found that the vessel would run for hours at a constant depth and on a level keel. There were other devices for diving or rising to the surface.

In 1901 Mr. Lake built a large vessel of this type which was sold to the Russian government and was in commission at Vladivostock during the Russian-Japanese War. He afterwards received orders from this and other governments for a number of vessels of the even-keel type, and his principles of control have since been generally adopted as the safest and most reliable controlling agency for under-water craft.

We have not in the above brief statement described all the efforts to invent a satisfactory under-water boat. In several of the nations of Europe experiments, more or less available, had been tried, but the most practical results were achieved by the American inventors, Bushnell, Fulton, Davy, Holland and Lake. It will suffice here to say that the most successful of submarines were those constructed by Holland and Lake. An important addition was made in 1901 in a French boat, the “Morse,” built at Cherbourg. The difficulty of navigators telling where they were when under water, and of changing their course safely without coming to the surface to reconnoitre, was in a large measure overcome by the addition of a “periscope.” This, rising above the water, and provided with reflecting lenses, enabled the steersman to discover the surface conditions and see any near vessel or other object. The “Morse” was able to sink in seventy seconds and her crew could remain under water for sixteen hours without strain.

A Mine-planting Submarine Designed in Berlin by Simon Lake in 1895 for the Russian Government

Twentieth Century Submarines.

We have given an epitome of the development of the submarine vessel up to the opening of the twentieth century. It had now reached a successful status of achievement and during the early years of that century was to display a remarkable progress. Holland and Lake may be looked upon as the parents of the modern development of the submersible boat, their designs being at the base of the great European progress.

France took up the work actively, its most successful early vessel being the “Narval,” built in 1899. This was 118 feet long by 8 feet 3 inches beam, 106 tons surface and 168 submerged displacement. She was a double-deck vessel controlled by Lake hydroplanes, and had installed steam power for surface travel and electric power for undersea work. The French at this time kept their methods secret, and no useful type had been developed in England, the result being that a plant was provided for the building of Holland boats in that country. Germany used the Lake devices, which had not been patented in that country and were made use of by the Krupps. Thus it appears that the modern submarines, as now built and used in the navies of the world, owe their success to principles of construction and devices for control originated and developed by American inventors.

Engine Power.

The internal-combustion engine is the heart of the submarine. Steam, with its heavy engine, has been long set aside, and electricity, derived from the storage battery, yet awaits sufficient development. Gasoline succeeded them. The internal-combustion engine became essential from its light weight and the fact that it could be started and shut down instantly. This is of prime importance, as permitting quick submergence or emergence, either to escape from a high-speed destroyer or to capture a merchantman. It weighs less per horse power, takes up less room and requires less fuel per hour than any other reliable motor. It was early used in both the Holland and Lake boats and is still the chief prime motor.

A Protector Fitted for Experimental Work Under Ice

The difficulty with the early boats was that they were slow in speed, making only from eight to nine knots per hour. Increased speed was demanded by governments and more powerful engines, within a fixed limit of weight, were demanded. In doing this engines were built of such flimsy construction that they soon went to pieces. The gasoline used also gave off a gas of highly explosive character and one very likely to escape from leaky tanks or joints. Several explosions took place in consequence, in one of which twenty-three men were killed. As a result all the nations demanded that a non-explosive fuel should be used, and builders turned to the Diesel engine as offering a solution to the difficulty.

This heavy oil engine, weighing about five hundred pounds per horse-power, was not adapted to the submarine, and efforts have been made to decrease the weight. These have not as yet had a satisfactory result and experiments are still going on.

The Periscope.

As the engine is the heart of the submarine, the periscope is its eye. This is, in its simpler forms, a stiff, detachable tube from fifteen to twenty feet long and about four inches in diameter. On its top is an object glass which takes in all objects within its range and transmits an image of them through a right-angled prism and down the tube. By means of other lenses and prisms an image of the external object is thus made visible to those within the submarine. In this process of transmission there is a certain loss of light, and to allow for that the image is magnified to about one-quarter above natural size.

A Submarine Under Ice

To obtain in this manner a correct idea of the distance of the object seen proved difficult, but by continued experiment this difficulty has been overcome. Mr. Lake developed an instrument suited to this purpose and one which gave a simultaneous view of the entire horizon. There is one fault in the periscope not easy to obviate. It is an instrument for day use only. When dark comes on it becomes useless, and this does away with the possibility of a successful submarine attack by night.

The periscope is the one part of the submarine scout equipment that is open to vision from the surface. But while the outlook of the undersea captain, aided by his telescopic sights, has a radius of several miles, the periscope tube, of only four or five-inch diameter and painted of a neutral tint, is not easily seen. If the sea is a little choppy it is difficult to discover it with the naked eye at about 300 or 400 yards away, or in a smooth sea at over 500 yards.

The idea that a submarine may be located by an aeroplane is looked upon by Mr. Lake as a fallacy, except in water of crystal-like clearness, like that of the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, and periscopes are now being made to scour the heavens as well as the horizon, so that the presence of an enemy aeroplane can easily be seen. An attack by an aeroplane bomb, therefore, can readily be avoided, in view of the difficulty of hitting such an object from the upper air.

The submarine is the guerrilla of the sea. Its tactics are like those of the Indian who fights under cover or lies in ambush for his enemy. It is the weaker party and can hope for success only through strategy. The old adage that “all is fair in love and war” applies to this new weapon of destruction as to every warlike instrument. It is its invisibility that makes the submarine the terror of the seas. This has been well proved during the European war. The North Sea and the English Channel have been invaded by German submarines which have made great havoc among merchant ships. And it is well to draw attention to the fact that submarines are safe from each other. In no case has a battle taken place between two of these armed sharks except in the one instance reported of an Austrian sinking an Italian submarine. But in this case the Italian boat was on the surface and was at the time practically a surface ship.

During the war the Germans were especially active in the use of the submarine, and did much in making them an effective terror of the seas. With no mercantile marine of their own to guard, they had a free field for attack in the abundant shipping of their foes. The loss of ships was so numerous and became such a common occurrence that little attention was finally paid to them except when great loss of life took place, as in the signal instance of the “Lusitania.”

Type of High Speed Ocean-going Submarine

The Voyage of the “Deutschland.”

The great mission of the submarine during the European war was as a commerce destroyer. Many ships were sunk and many lives, with cargoes of great value, were lost, and it was not until the summer of 1916 that the submarine appeared in a new rôle, that of a commerce carrier. On July 9th of that year the people of Baltimore were astounded by the appearance in their port of a submarine vessel of unusual size and novel errand. Instead of being a destroyer of merchandise, this new craft was an unarmed carrier of merchandise. It had crossed the Atlantic on a voyage of 4,000 miles in extent, laden with dyestuffs to supply the needs of American weavers.

This new type of vessel, the “Deutschland,” was an undersea craft of 315 feet length and a gross tonnage of 701 tons, its cargo capacity being more than 1,000 tons. It had crossed the ocean in defiance of the wide cordon of enemy warships which swarmed over part of its route, and reached port in safety after a memorable voyage, to the surprise and interest of the world. Leaving the port of Bremenhaven on June 18th, and halting at Heligoland for four days to train its crew, it made its way across the Atlantic in sixteen days. During this voyage it lay for two hours on the ocean bottom in the English Channel and was submerged in all not over ninety hours, the remainder of the voyage being made on the surface.

Its crew, composed of twenty-six men and three officers, found their novel voyage rather agreeable than otherwise. Supplied with plenty of good food, a well-selected library, a graphophone with an abundance of music records, and other means of convenience and enjoyment, their voyage was more of a holiday then a hardship, and they reached their transatlantic port none the worse for their hazardous trip. It was not the longest that had been made. Other submarines had voyaged from German ports to the eastern limit of the Mediterranean, but it was the most notable and attracted the widest attention.

The German Merchant Submarine “Deutschland” which Crossed the Atlantic in 1916, after Eluding the British Blockade

Courtesy of Baltimore American and C. & P. Telephone Co.

The return voyage promised to be more perilous then the outgoing one. A fleet of British and French ships gathered around the outlet of Chesapeake Bay, alert to capture the daring mariners and their ship, if possible. Ready to leave Baltimore on July 20th, with a return cargo of gold, nickel and rubber, the captain of the “Deutschland” shrewdly awaited a favorable opportunity and on August 1st began his voyage, plunging under sea as he left the American coast-line and easily evading the line of floating foemen. The return to its home port a success, a second round-trip voyage was made and completed on December 11th, in the course of which a convoying tug-boat was rammed and sunk with the loss of several lives, shortly after leaving New London, Conn. The “Deutschland” was sent out by private parties, for purely commercial purposes, not as a military enterprise.

Such is the story of a pioneer enterprise, that of the use of submarine vessels as commerce carriers. It is one not likely to be supplemented in times of peace, since surface boats would be cheaper and more available. But in future wars—if such there are to be—it may point to a future of advantageous trade.

Submarine Dredging.

Commerce is not the only peaceful mission of the submarine. In 1895 was organized an association known as the Lake Submarine Company, its purpose being to use the Lake type of submarine boat for the recovery of lost treasures from the sea bottom and for other possibilities of undersea work. This company is still in existence, its various purposes being to recover sunken ships and their cargoes, to build breakwaters and other submerged constructions, to aid in submarine tunnel building, to dredge for gold, to fish for pearls and sponges, and for similar operations.

The first vessel adapted to these purposes was the “Argonaut,” built by Simon Lake in 1894. The important feature of this boat was a diver’s compartment, enabling divers to leave the vessel when submerged, for the purpose of operating on wrecks or performing other undersea duties. This vessel and its successors have bottom doors for the use of divers, as previously stated. They are now used for numerous purposes for which they are much better adapted then the old system of surface diving, the sea bottom being under direct observation and within immediate reach.

This sea bottom, in localities near land, is abundantly sown with wrecks, old and new, and in many cases bearing permanently valuable cargoes, such as gold and coal. The Lake system greatly simplifies the work of search for sunken ships, the vessels being able in a few hours’ time to search over regions which would have taken months in the old method. Many wrecks have been found by these bottom-prowling scouts and valuable material recovered. Thus vessels laden with coal have been traced that had been many years under the water and deeply covered with sand and silt, and their cargoes brought to the surface.

A Semi-submersible Wrecking Apparatus

The gold-dredging spoken of refers to the working of gold-bearing sands found at the mouth of certain rivers in Alaska and South America. Places on the Alaskan coast, laid bare at high tide, are said to have yielded as much as $12,000 per cubic yard. With the Lake system it is possible to gather material from such localities to a depth of 150 or more feet, the material being drawn up by suction pumps into the vessel and its gold recovered.

Another important application is that of fishing for pearl shells, sponges and coral. This is blind work when done by divers from the surface, the returns being largely matters of chance. By aid of submerged boats, with their powerful electric lights, the work becomes one of certainty rather than of chance. The recovery of the oyster, clam and other edible shell-fish is also a feature of the work which the Lake Company has in view. The present method of dredging is of the “hit or miss” character, while the submarine method is capable of thorough work. Vessels have been designed for this purpose with a capacity of gathering oysters from good ground at the rate of 5,000 bushels per hour. In regard to submarine engineering, of its many varieties, the Lake system is likely to be a highly useful aid and assistance.

These particulars are given to show that the submarine vessel is not wholly an instrument of “frightfulness,” as indicated by its use in war, but is capable of being made useful for many purposes in peace. Some of these have here been very briefly stated. With continued practice its utility will grow, and by its aid the sea bottom up to a certain depth may become as open to varied operations as is the land surface.

The Story of the Panama Canal

America has captured the forces of Nature, harnessed the floods and made the desert bloom, builded gigantic bridges and arrogant skyscrapers and bored roadways through solid rock and beneath water, but the most spectacular of all spectacular accomplishments is the Panama Canal.

Some four centuries ago, Balboa, the intrepid, the persevering, led his little band of adventurers across the Isthmus of Darien, as it was then called, and, leaving their protection, gave rein to his impatience by going on ahead and climbing alone, slowly and painfully, the continental divide, from which vantage point he discovered the world’s largest ocean.

We are told that, later, gathering his followers, he walked out into the surf and with his sword in his right hand and the banner of Castile in his left gave the vast expanse of water its present name and claimed all the land washed by its waves the lawful property of the proud country to which he owed allegiance.

The narrowness of the Isthmus naturally suggested the cutting of a waterway through it. It interposed between Atlantic and Pacific a barrier in places less than fifty miles wide. To sail from Colon to Panama—forty-five miles as the bird flies—required a voyage around Cape Horn—some ten thousand miles. Yet it was nearly four centuries before any actual effort was made to construct such a canal.

In 1876 an organization was perfected in France for making surveys and collecting data on which to base the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, and in 1878, a concession for prosecuting the work was secured from the Colombian Government. In May, 1879, an international congress was convened, under the auspices of Ferdinand de Lesseps, to consider the question of the best location and plan of the canal.

The Panama Canal Company was organized, with Ferdinand de Lesseps as its president, and the stock of this company was successfully floated in December, 1880. The two years following were devoted largely to surveys, examinations and preliminary work. In 1889 the company went into bankruptcy and operations were suspended until the new Panama Canal Company was organized in 1894.

The United States to the Rescue.

The United States, not unmindful of the advantages of an Isthmian Canal, had from time to time, made surveys of the various routes. With a view to government ownership and control, Congress directed an investigation, with the result that the Commission reported, on November 16, 1901, in favor of Panama and recommended the lock type of canal, appraising the value of the rights, franchises, concessions, lands, unfinished work, plans and other property, including the railroad of the new Panama Canal Company, at $40,000,000. An act of Congress, approved June 28, 1902, authorized the President of the United States to acquire this property at this figure, and also to secure from the Republic of Colombia perpetual control of a strip of land not less than six miles wide across the Isthmus and the right to excavate, construct and operate and protect thereon a canal of such depth and capacity as would afford convenient passage to the largest ships now in use or which might be reasonably anticipated.

Later on a treaty was made with the Republic of Panama whereby the United States was granted control of a ten-mile strip constituting the Canal Zone. This was ratified by the Republic of Panama on December 2, 1903, and by the United States on February 23, 1904. On May 4, 1904, work was begun under United States control.

Uncle Sam’s Big Work at Panama

A bird’s-eye view of the great canal, showing how the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are here joined.

[19]

Courtesy of The Ingersoll Rand Company.

Drilling Rock, Panama Canal

These powerful steam drills are capable of sinking holes in the solid rock at the rate of seven feet per hour.

The Canal and the Navy.

The opening of the canal has greatly increased the effectiveness of the Navy of the United States. It has reduced the distance between the central points of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts from 13,000 to 5,000 miles and greatly reduced the problem of coaling on a cruise from coast to coast. It has made possible the concentration of a fleet at either entrance of the canal which, with a cruising speed of fifteen knots, could reach the center of the Pacific coast in nine days and the center of the Atlantic coast in five days.

Where, formerly, the fleets stationed opposite the middle of each coast were, from a cruising point of view, as far apart as opposite sides of the world, they are now as near as if one were off New York and the other off Buenos Aires.

With regard to the monetary saving to the United States resulting from the availability of the canal for naval use, it is apparent that the distance and time between the coasts have been reduced to less than two-fifths of the former figures. The cost of coast-to-coast movements is reduced accordingly, for though vessels of the Navy pay tolls, such payment is in effect a transfer of money from one branch of the government to another.

The strategic importance of the canal is inestimable from a monetary standpoint.

The Great Canal.

The Isthmus of Panama runs east and west and the canal traverses it from Colon on the north to Panama on the south in a general direction from northwest to southeast, the Pacific terminus being twenty-two miles east of the Atlantic entrance. The principal features of the canal are a sea-level entrance channel from the east through Limon Bay to Gatun, about seven miles long, five-hundred-foot bottom width and forty-one-foot depth at mean tide. At Gatun the eighty-five-foot lake level is obtained by a dam across the valley. The lake is confined on the Pacific side by a dam between the hills at Pedro Miguel, thirty-two miles away. The lake thus formed has an area of 164 square miles and a channel depth of not less than forty-five feet at normal stage.

At Gatun ships pass from the sea to the lake level, and vice versa, by three locks in flight. On the Pacific side there is one lowering of thirty feet at Pedro Miguel to a small lake fifty-five feet above sea level, held by dam at Miraflores, where two lowerings overcome the difference of level to the sea. The channel between the locks on the Pacific side is five hundred feet wide at the bottom and forty-five feet deep, and below the Miraflores locks the sea-level section, about eight miles in length, is five hundred feet wide at the bottom and forty-five feet deep at mean tide. Through the lake the bottom widths are not less than one thousand feet for about sixteen miles, eight hundred feet for about four miles, five hundred feet for about three miles and through the continental divide from Bas Obispo to Pedro Miguel, a distance of about nine miles, the bottom width is three hundred feet. The total length of the canal from deep water in the Caribbean, forty-one-foot depth at mean tide to deep water in the Pacific, forty-five-foot depth at mean tide, is practically fifty miles, fifteen miles of which are at sea level.

The Hydroelectric Station.

The hydroelectric station uses water from Gatun Lake for driving three turbo-generators of 2,000-kilowatt capacity each, which supply electricity for the operation of the lock and spillway machinery, the terminal shops and adjacent facilities, and for the lighting of the locks and the canal villages and fortifications. Transmission over the Zone is effected through four substations and a connecting high voltage transmission line which follows the main line of the Panama Railroad.

[21]

Submarines Used in Defending the Panama Canal

The vessels here shown are used in defense of the Pacific side of the canal. They appear as anchored in the new concrete docks at Colon, preparatory to their passage through the canal, after having made the longest sea voyage then on record for submarines.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

[22]

Copyright by the International News Service.

Through the Panama Canal

The U. S. battleship “Ohio” in the east chamber of the Pedro Miguel Locks. On the left is seen the electric locomotive used in drawing vessels through.

[23]

Ladder Dredge, Panama Canal

Suction Dredge, Panama Canal

The upper view shows a ladder dredge, which operates by means of buckets on a continuous chain, dipping the contents of the buckets into the scow which lies alongside. The lower view shows a suction dredge, which operates on soft mud or sands, pumping the discharge through the pipe seen at the left of the illustration. The pipe may be carried to any desired point and used for filling.

[24]

Copyright, C. H. Graves Co.

Gatun Locks

A. Sea-level section of canal, seven miles long, from Atlantic Ocean to Gatun Locks, where by a series of three locks vessels are raised to Gatun Lake, eighty-five feet above sea level. B. Small area of land dredged away as soon as Gatun Locks were completed. C. Electric towing motor, four of which tow each vessel entirely through the locks. They run on cog rail along the lock walls. D. Lock gate under construction. E. Floor of first lock from Atlantic side. Note holes in floor for admitting the water. F. Lock for vessels coming from Pacific side. G. Base on which concrete posts were erected for electric lights. A row of lights on all sides of the locks making operation at night as safe as day. H. Incline from locks of different levels up and down which the towing motors run on cog rails.

[25]

Gaillard Cut Looking South from Bend in East Bank near Gamboa

The train and shovel are standing on the bottom of the cut. The water in the drainage canal is about ten feet below the bottom of the canal, or at elevation +30.

[26]

A Cylindrical Valve Machine, Motor and Limit Switch

This machine is one of many which are used to regulate the flow of water to the locks. All valves are controlled from a central operating station on each of the three sets of locks. The limit switch automatically shuts off the power and stops the motor when the valve is entirely open or shut.

[27]

Cucaracha Slide Attacked by a Fleet of Dredges

This great slide was the source of much trouble to the engineers. At one time it entirely blocked the canal at the narrow point shown in this photograph, but the seven dredges of the ladder, suction and dipper type, made short work of cutting the 150-foot channel shown here, and then proceeded with the work of entirely clearing the cut. The view looks north from the slide past Gold and Contractor’s Hills.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

[28]

Steam Shovel Buried Under Fall of Rock

[29]

The Great Gaillard Cut

At this point the canal is cut through what is practically a mountain range. The material excavated consisted largely of rock and formed one of the hugest engineering problems in the world’s history. The cut is nine miles long, 300 feet wide, 272 feet greatest depth and required the excavation of 100,000,000 cubic yards of material.

Gatun Lake, impounded by Gatun Dam, has an area of 164 square miles when its surface is at the normal elevation of eighty-five feet above sea level, and is the largest artificially-formed lake in the world. The area of the water-shed tributary to the lake is 1,320 square miles. During the rainy season, from April to the latter part of December, the run-off from this basin exceeds considerably the consumption of water, and the surplus is discharged through the spillway of Gatun Dam. Toward the end of the rainy season the surface of the lake is raised to about eighty-seven feet above sea level, in order to afford a surplus or reserve supply to keep the channel full to operating depth during the dry season, in part of which the consumption and evaporation are in excess of the supply. It is calculated that when this level has been attained at the beginning of the dry season the reserve is sufficient to assure a surface elevation of at least seventy-nine feet at the end of the dry season in spite of the consumption at the hydroelectric station, and allowing forty-one passages of vessels through the locks each day with the use of the full length of the chambers, or fifty-eight lockages a day when the shorter sections of the chambers are used and cross filling is employed, which would usually be the case. This is a greater number of lockages than can be made in one day.

Steam Shovel Loading Rock

These great machines, which are able to dig out and load several tons of material at each operation, made the rapid progress in digging the canal possible.

Gigantic Obstacles.

The greatest difficulty encountered in the excavation of the canal was due to slides and breaks which caused large masses of material to slide or move into the excavated area, closing off the drainage, upsetting steam shovels and tearing up the tracks. The greatest slide was at Cucaracha, and gave trouble when the French first began cutting in 1884. Though at first confined to a length of 800 feet, the slide extended to include the entire basin south of Gold Hill, or a length of about 3,000 feet. Some idea of the magnitude of these slides can be obtained from the fact that during the fiscal year 1910 of 14,921,750 cubic yards that were removed, 2,649,000 yards, or eighteen per cent, were from slides or breaks that had previously existed or that had developed during the year.

[31]

One of the Guard Gates, Gatun Locks, Panama Canal

Each lock is provided with four gates. This shows the method of construction, the gate being only partially finished.

[32]

Gatun Upper Locks, East Chamber

The view is looking north from the forebay showing the upper guard gates and emergency dam.

The one greatest undertaking of the whole excavation was the Gaillard Cut. Work had been in progress on this since 1880, and during the French control over 20,000,000 cubic yards were removed. On May 4, 1904, when the United States took charge, it was estimated that there was left to excavate 150,000,000 cubic yards. Some idea of the size of this big cut may be formed from the fact that this division has within its jurisdiction over 200 miles of five-foot-gage track laid, about fifty-five miles of which is within the side slopes of the Gaillard Cut alone.

Gatun Dam.

The great dam at Gatun is a veritable hill—7,500 feet over all, 2,100 feet wide at the base, 398 feet through at the water surface, and 100 feet wide at the top, which is 115 feet above sea level. The dimensions of the dam are such as to assure that ample provision is made against every force which may affect its safety, and while it is made of dirt, a thing before unheard of, it is of such vast proportions that it is as strong and firm as the everlasting hills themselves.

Fluctuations in the lake due to floods are controlled by an immense spillway dam built of concrete. The front of the dam is the arc of a circle 740 feet long with fourteen openings which, when the gates are raised to the full height, permit a discharge of 140,000 cubic feet per second. The water thus discharged passes through a diversion channel in the old bed of the Chagres River, generating, by an enormous electric plant, the power necessary for operating the locks.

The locks of the canal are in pairs, so that if any lock is out of service navigation will not be interrupted, also, when all the locks are in use the passage of shipping is expedited by using one set of locks for the ascent and the other for descent. These locks are 110 feet wide and have usable lengths of 1,000 feet. The system of filling adopted consists of a culvert in each side wall feeding laterals from which are openings upward into the lock chamber. The entire lock can be filled or emptied in fifteen minutes and forty-two seconds when one culvert is used and seven minutes and fifty-one seconds, using both culverts. It requires about ten hours for a large ship to make the entire trip through the canal.

Meeting all Emergencies.

Many extraordinary feats of engineering were accomplished to overcome the difficulties presented. Special contrivances, wonderful in their operation, were invented to meet exigencies and emergencies.

The first and greatest problem attempted by the United States was to make the Canal Zone healthful. This strip of land from ocean to ocean abounded in disease-breeding swamps and filthy habitations unfit for human beings. The death-rate was appalling and the labor conditions terrible. During the first two and a half years, therefore, all energies were devoted to ridding the Isthmus of disease by sanitation, to recruiting and organizing a working force and providing for it suitable houses, hotels, messes, kitchens and an adequate food supply. This work included clearing lands, draining and filling pools and swamps for the extermination of the mosquito, the establishment of hospitals for the care of the sick and injured and the building of suitable quarantine quarters. Municipal improvements were undertaken in Panama and Colon and the various settlements in the Canal Zone, such as the construction of reservoirs, pavements and a system of modern roads. Over 2,000 buildings were constructed besides the remodeling of 1,500 buildings turned over by the French company.

[34]

Photograph, Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

Lock Gate Operating Machinery

The great gear wheel, known as a “bull wheel,” is connected with one leaf of the gate on the right by means of a strut so that revolving the bull wheel by means of an electric motor through a train of gears results in opening or closing the gate.

[35]

Panama, Past and Present

Scene showing the repaving of one of Panama’s old muddy streets with vitrified brick. Sewers and water pipes were laid throughout the city, resulting in a great reduction of disease.

It was only after all this preliminary sanitation was accomplished that the real work of digging the canal could go forward with any hope of success. These hygienic conditions had the result of making the Canal Zone one of the most healthful spots in the world, and work on the canal became so popular that it was no longer necessary to enlist recruits from the West Indies, the good pay, fair treatment and excellent living conditions bringing thousands of laborers from Spain and Italy. The greatest number employed at any one time was 45,000, of which 5,000 were American.

A Battle Won.

The completion of this herculean task marked an epoch in the history of the world. A gigantic battle against floods and torrents, pestilence and swamps, tropical rivers, jungles and rock-ribbed mountains had been fought—and won! Well worthy a place in the halls of immortal fame are the names of the thousands of sturdy sons who, with ingenuity, pluck and perseverance never before equaled, succeeded in making a pathway for the nations of the world from ocean to ocean.

This great and daring undertaking, which had for its object the opening up of new trade routes and lines of commerce, annihilating distance and wiping out the width of two continents between New York and Yokohama and making the Atlantic seaboard and the Pacific coast close neighbors, is the climax of man’s achievement and the greatest gift to civilization. It will help in the consummation of man’s loftiest dreams of world friendship and world peace.[2] So far, in the use of the canal, over forty per cent of the vessels which have passed through it have been engaged in the coastwise trade of the United States—each of them saving about 7,800 miles on each trip. If their average speed be taken at ten knots, they have averaged a saving of over a month at sea on each voyage from coast to coast. Where formerly the round trip of a ten-knot vessel required about fifty-five days’ actual steaming, the time at sea for the same trip for the same vessel is now reduced to about twenty-two days.

The canal makes San Francisco nearer to Liverpool by 5,666 miles, a saving of two-fifths of the old journey by Magellan. The distance between San Francisco and Gibraltar has been reduced from 12,571 miles to 7,621 miles, a saving of 4,950 miles, or thirty-nine per cent of the former distance.

From San Francisco to Buenos Aires, via Valparaiso and Magellan, is approximately 7,610 miles, which is shorter than the route through the canal, by which the distance is 8,941 miles. To Rio de Janeiro, the distance via Magellan is 8,609 miles; by the canal 7,885 miles. To Pernambuco, on the eastern promontory of South America, the distance via Magellan is 9,748 miles; via the canal 6,746 miles. To Para the distances via Magellan and via the canal are 10,852 and 5,642 miles, respectively.

From San Francisco to Freetown, on the west coast of middle Africa, the distance by the most practicable route, using the Strait of Magellan, is 11,380 miles. Through the canal and by way of the island of Barbados, the distance is 7,277 miles. The new route is less than two-thirds of the former.

With reference to the trade between the Atlantic coast of the United States and the west coast of South America, New York is nearer to Valparaiso by 3,717 miles by virtue of the canal; to Iquique, one of the great nitrate ports, by 4,139 miles; and to Guayaquil by 7,405 miles. From New York to Guayaquil the present distance of 2,765 miles is approximately twenty-seven per cent of the former distance—10,270 miles.

[37]

Forty Tons of Dynamite Destroy the Last Barrier Between the Oceans

The blowing up of Gamboa Dike, the last of the dikes in the Panama Canal. This dike separated the water in the Gatun locks from Gaillard Cut. The removal of the dike by a discharge of forty tons of dynamite, set off by President Wilson, from Washington, was the last stage in the completion of the great waterway. Dredges were put to work immediately widening the channel at Cucaracha slide in Gaillard Cut, so that within a short time the canal was ready for use throughout its entire length.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood.

[38]

Steam Shovel at Work in Gaillard Cut, with Large Rock in Mouth of Shovel

The great progress made in digging the Panama Canal was largely due to the steam shovels.

As to the Far East, New York is nearer to Yokohama by 3,768 miles than formerly by way of the Suez Canal, but the latter route is eighteen miles shorter than the Panama route for vessels plying between New York and Hongkong. New York is forty-one miles nearer Manila by Panama than by Suez, and 3,932 miles nearer Sydney by Panama. New York is now, by virtue of the Panama Canal, nearer than Liverpool to Yokohama by 1,880 miles, and nearer than Liverpool to Sydney by 2,424 miles.

When the ship enters the harbor of either of the terminal ports it is boarded by officers of the canal who examine its bill of health and clearance, see that its certificate of canal measurement is properly made out, and ascertain any of the vessel’s needs in the matters of fuel, supplies, extra men to handle the lines during the passage of the locks, etc. These matters are immediately reported to the Captain of the Port, who gives the necessary orders to insure proper attendance on the vessel’s needs and directs its start through the canal whenever it is ready.

In all stages of its transit of the canal the vessel must have on board a government pilot. There is no charge for pilotage on vessels going directly through the canal without stopping to discharge cargo or passengers at the terminal ports. The pilot is on board in an advisory capacity and is required to confer with the master of the vessel, giving him the benefit of his knowledge and advice as to the handling of the vessel in the various reaches, but the master, who is best acquainted with the peculiarities of his vessel and her ways of answering the helm, is responsible for the navigation of the vessel, except when she is passing through the locks.

The handling of a vessel during its transit of the canal is like the handling of a railway train on its “run.” The course is equipped with all requisite signals, facilities for mooring, like sidings, and a system of communication between points along the line, which includes a special telephone system connecting all the important points of control in series.

As soon as the vessel starts on its transit of the canal, the Captain of the Port at the point of entrance telephones its starting to the other stations along the course. As the vessel arrives and departs from each of these points, the fact is telephoned along the line, so that there is exact knowledge at each station all the time of the status of traffic, and complete co-operation from the several points of control.